Review of Legacy Code by Autumn Kalquist

I discovered Legacy Code, Book One of the Fractured Era Series, via Freebooksy in July of last year. One look at the breathtaking cover, a quick read of the blurb, and I was hooked.

Blurb:

Three hundred years ago, the Earth died, and the last humans fled. Beaten. Broken in more ways than one. Their descendants carry the Legacy Code—mangled genes that force them to abort half their unborn children.

When Era and Dritan Corinth get placements on the safest ship in the fleet and win a chance to have a child, they feel lucky. Until the day Era's supposed to find out if her baby has the Defect, and the ship suffers a hull breach.

An investigation uncovers new threats. Dangerous secrets. Lies. Treason.

Era begins to question everything she’s been taught about the fleet, their search for a new Earth, and the Defect. But the answers she seeks were never meant to be found...

Legacy Code is a suspenseful, dark post-apocalyptic read that has earned five star reviews from fans of books like Hunger Games, Divergent, and Red Rising, and has been compared favorably to Wool, 1984, and the new Battlestar Galactica.

Ellie's Review:

It's all to easy to download countless free books, only to leave them languishing for years in digital oblivion, or to read them and wish you'd chosen another. Not true with Legacy Code. I'd hoped after reading the blurb I would not be disappointed. I need not have worried - I was hooked from the opening scene until the last sentence.

Legacy Code was a breathtaking introduction into the world of 17-year old Era and the young man she's paired with, Dritan. Their world is a fleet of aging spaceships searching for a new planet to call home, set 300 years into the future. What remains of humanity is plagued by a gene defect, and all unborn babies with the mutation must be aborted. Those who do not comply, or challenge the myriad of rules, are dealt with quickly and harshly. So when pregnant Era begins to question the rules, you know conflict and heartbreak are not far behind. 

Kalquist's writing is assured, her characterization and world-building utterly convincing. It's not hard to read this book and understand why it's become an indie bestseller.

This is a book that deals with some hard questions concerning morality, life, and what it means to be human. It will keep you guessing until the last page, wrench your heart out on more than one occasion, and have you downloading its follow up Parragon before your eBook battery runs out. By the end of July I'd read books one and two, the prequel, and two short stories set in the Fractured Era universe. I can't wait for the next in the series.